by Kat Mizera
He started rinsing dishes and putting them in the dishwasher while I put away the leftovers and wiped down the table.
“I have presents for you too,” I said. “I’ll get them out while you finish up.”
“Okay.”
I went into the living room and got out the gift bag I’d bought. It had the card, the Twizzlers, and the kissing cards I’d made, so while it felt a little lame compared to the romantic evening he’d planned, I figured the kissing would make up for it.
“What’s this?” he asked, joining me in the living room.
“Your present.” I handed him the bag.
“Thank you.” He opened it slowly and pulled out the card first. He read it to himself and then smiled. “That’s sweet. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed me. “Now what’s this?” He reached in and took out the massive package of Twizzlers and grinned. “See? This is fifty percent of the reason you’re my girlfriend.”
“What’s the other fifty percent?” I asked, laughing.
He arched a brow. “You have to ask?”
I rolled my eyes, pretending to be annoyed, though I really wasn’t. “There’s one more thing in the bag.”
He reached back in and a look of confusion crossed his face as he found the Ziploc bag I’d put the cards in. “Okay, I truly have no idea what this is.”
“It’s a kissing game,” I said, trying not to laugh at the look on his face. “Pull a card and we have to kiss in whatever way it says on the card.”
“Yeah?” He looked intrigued and immediately reached in, digging around until he’d picked one from the middle of the stack. “Kiss using a timer—fifteen seconds to start, or thirty if you think you can last that long without getting naked.” He paused and then reached for his phone. “Oh, baby, you know I love a challenge.” He opened the clock feature on his phone and set up the timer. “You ready?”
I licked my lips. “I was born ready for you to kiss me.”
“You up for thirty seconds?”
“Oh, yes.”
I closed my eyes as he pushed the button to start the timer and then his lips were grazing mine. He was taking his time, pressing light, caressing kisses on my lips before slowly sliding his tongue against mine. Our mouths opened and then locked together, familiar need and passion and sensuality morphing into one as we raced against the clock. We’d make it, of course, but the website hadn’t been kidding about how hard it would be to kiss for thirty full seconds without wanting more. I always wanted more but never more so than when he kissed me like this. He was being a perfect gentleman, though, keeping his hands to himself, even as my breath caught and my heart rate kicked into high gear.
By the time the buzzer went off, I was flushed and damp in all the right places, and the erection poking through his slacks told me he was equally turned on.
“That was harder—and longer—than I thought,” he said, glancing down at his erection. “But I’m not quite ready to take our evening’s activities into the bedroom.”
“How come?” I asked.
He shrugged. “You’ll see.” He went back into the bag of cards. “What’s next?”
“Pick another card.”
“Re-create the kiss from a famous movie.” He frowned as he read it. “Hmmm.”
“Need help?” I teased.
He slowly shook his head. “Actually, no.” He got up and looked around. “I have an idea, I just need to figure out how to execute it so I don’t kill myself.”
I had no idea what he was talking about but he got up and looked around. “Okay, it’s too cold for us to go outside, so you’re going to have to use your imagination here.”
“Okay.”
He reached for my hand and led me around to the back of the couch. “You sit here, on the floor, with your back against the back of the couch.”
“O-kayyy…” I sat down and looked up at him curiously. “Now what?”
“Please hold.” He left my field of vision and then he was looming over me, hanging over the back of the couch. “Ready?”
“Hmm?” His face was upside down, but poised right in front of me, and he slowly leaned forward until his mouth found mine. I still didn’t know what movie scene we were recreating, but damn, this was hot.
“Put your hands on either side of my face,” he whispered.
I did it and then it clicked. Spider-Man. The upside-down kiss between Spider-Man and Mary Jane. Oh, damn, this was beyond hot. He was so romantic. Fuck. I couldn’t deny it anymore. I was in love with him. There were no two ways about it.
We were breathing hard again as we pulled apart, and I sighed, torn between wanting to rip his clothes off and wanting to play this game a little longer. “Spider-Man,” I whispered.
He grinned. “Spider-Man 2, to be precise. But now it’s time for dessert.” He disappeared into the kitchen and I got to my feet. This kissing game was turning out to be even sexier than I’d expected.
I was about to follow him to the kitchen when he came back with a small square box. “Happy Valentine’s Day again,” he said. “I didn’t get you a card because I wasn’t sure what to say, and words aren’t my thing, but I hope my actions tonight speak louder than any six-dollar words in a Hallmark card.”
I opened the box and stared at the most elegant—and delicious-looking—red velvet cupcake I’d ever seen. The cream cheese frosting swirled at least four inches above the top and was covered in sparkly confetti. There was a set of intertwined hearts drawn in red icing, with our initials inside of them.
P.G. + E.M.
“This is incredible,” I said. “I have to take a picture of this because I want to remember it always.” I reached for my phone and took the picture and then lifted the massive cupcake out of the box. Torn between being seductive and playful, I opted for playful and stuck my face in the frosting, licking a big glob of it and then sticking out my tongue, proffering it to him. He took me up on my offer and soon we forgot all about the cupcake. His mouth was fused to mine and those big, strong hands of his were circling my waist.
“Damn, you taste like sex,” he said, all signs of playfulness gone now. His eyes blazed with intensity and he looked like he was going to take me right here and now.
“One more kissing game,” I whispered. “I have a very specific one in mind.”
“Oh?”
“Getting undressed while kissing,” I said.
“How would we do that?”
“Anything that has to go over your head comes off before you start, then you close your eyes and kiss while getting undressed. You can’t open your eyes or stop kissing until we’re both naked.”
“Like I said.” He used a napkin to wipe some frosting off my chin. “I love a challenge.”
“My dress has a zipper,” I said, “so it’ll definitely be a challenge, but I think we’re up to the task.”
“I don’t have anything that needs to go over my head.” He smirked.
“Then you’re ready?”
“Fuck yeah.” He pulled me against him and we started to kiss. He undid his belt and the button at the top of his slacks while I stepped out of my heels. I had panties on but it would be hard to get to them until my dress was off, so I worked on the buttons of his shirt, though it was harder than it sounded. And took a lot longer. A few times, we almost broke apart but managed to keep going, despite laughing a little.
It was awkward and sexy and fun, both of us struggling to focus on kissing while simultaneously trying to shed our clothes. Patrick unzipped my dress and brought it forward over my shoulders while I shimmied out of it. Then he slid my panties down and I managed to step out of them while holding on to him for balance.
When we were finally naked, we were both a little breathless and he was hard as stone.
“I don’t know what I like better,” I said, running a hand over his hip. “Your six-pack abs or that sexy little tattoo on your hip.”
“My abs,” he said drolly. “All the chicks like the abs.”
“Then
I might have to be different.” I dropped to my knees so I could kiss it. He’d had his jersey number, fifty-one, drawn ornately within crossed hockey sticks, on the inside of one hip bone and he moaned as I ran my tongue along it.
“Time for the rest of your present,” he murmured, reaching down to help me up.
We went down the hall and he opened the door, letting me walk in ahead of him. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the scene. The room was filled with candles and rose petals, with a small box of chocolate in the middle of the bed. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing I’d ever seen and I turned to him with tears in my eyes.
“Patrick…this is amazing. I love it.”
“I wish I could have afforded to take you out somewhere fancy and wine and dine you like a lady.”
I laughed. “I’m not old enough to drink in public so this actually works out better for me.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Now why don’t you go back to kissing me?”
“I’ve been waiting for instructions,” he deadpanned. “I don’t know how to kiss if there isn’t a goal…”
“The goal,” I whispered, wrapping my hand around his cock and squeezing, “is for you to make me come.”
“Oh, well, that works for me.” He dipped his head and found my lips again. It felt like we’d been kissing all night but I truly never got tired of it. It was a weird combination of new and familiar, our bodies knowing exactly what the other needed but always manifesting in different ways.
Patrick stretched out on the bed, moving the box of chocolate to his nightstand. “Come here, beautiful.”
I crawled onto the bed after him but he nudged me so that I was facing away from his head. “Straddle my face,” he said softly. “And I’ll do you while you do me.”
“Ohhh…” Sixty-nine. I’d been wanting to try this and I hurried to get into position.
It was harder than it looked, though, because he was so much taller than me and the moment he put his tongue inside of me, I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to do. He didn’t seem to mind, doing his thing with his mouth while I tried to focus on the fabulous cock in front of me. I managed to lick the tip and suck a little, but he was nibbling my clit and my whole world was flashing bright colors behind my eyes. I moaned, moving against him, and he chuckled.
“Put my cock in your mouth and hum,” he said softly. “It feels really good for me and takes less concentration for you. Moaning works too.”
I hurried to comply and he seemed to like it. I assumed it had something to do with the sound vibration, but even my overly analytical mind couldn’t concentrate on science with his tongue buried inside of me. He was fingering my ass again too, which was my new favorite thing. Of course, everything he did was my favorite, so it was hard to choose just one.
“It’s hard to time our orgasms in this position,” he murmured. “I know how to get you off this way…so your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to figure it out for me.”
“I accept,” I said, sucking him deeper and reaching down to cup his balls. They were even more sensitive than his dick, so contrary to what he thought, I’d already figured that out about him. I squeezed them lightly at first, taking as much of him into my mouth as I could, and then squeezed harder. He jerked a little, but I knew I hadn’t hurt him, and continued to alternate sucking and squeezing, until he was fucking my mouth hard and fast.
I probably would have gotten him off first but he cheated and pressed his finger deeper into my ass. It was better than my G-spot because it triggered an orgasm every damn time and this was no exception. I did my best to hold it off but it was no use and I came harder than ever before, my body stiffening and then shuddering repeatedly.
“Suck me, baby,” he growled, pushing deeper into my mouth.
I could barely focus but I tried my best and then everything spiraled into an atomic bomb of pleasure because I was coming again and he was coming and it was next-level sex to the nth degree.
“God damn,” I whispered, resting my head on his thigh. “How do you do that to me every time?”
“Same way you do it to me,” he replied, patting my bottom.
I rolled off him and turned so I could put my head on his chest.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.”
“It was amazing. You’re amazing. I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“Believe it.”
23
Patrick
The next couple of weeks were busy. Ellie had been applying to every biotechnology Ph.D. program in the country while simultaneously finishing her current project. Instead of a doctoral thesis, she’d changed her focus to make it a master’s thesis so she would end with a master’s degree if Dr. Phillips agreed to work with her on moving into biotechnology. Beyond that, she was struggling to come up with a plan, and while I felt bad for her, I wasn’t sure what I could do. I didn’t understand how it all worked and she was frustrated and cranky. I could usually distract her with sex but I was busy too. We were gearing up for the NCAA championships and the team was on fire. We were undefeated since the first of the year and I was on a ten-game scoring streak.
I was getting a lot of attention from the sports journalists too, which was both exciting and frustrating. I was truly at the top of my game right now and it was the perfect time to go pro. There were just so many issues to work through, and the most important to me was Ellie. Deep down, I knew if I left her now, so early in our relationship, it would be almost impossible to stay together. I’d be in Vegas and on the road, and she’d be here—or at one of the other schools she’d applied to—for at least three or four more years.
She might be able to get through a doctoral program in two years, but that was a long shot and even if she did, two years was a long time to be apart. I’d been trying not to think about it, but she updated me daily on her progress and which schools she’d been applying to, so it was in the forefront of my mind. Part of me wished she’d stop talking about it because I was starting to fall in love with her and it was hard to imagine losing her after what we’d shared the last two months.
She’d blossomed since we’d been together, coming out of her shell and beginning to find herself, for lack of a better phrase. There had been a party at the hockey house last weekend and I’d seen a couple of my teammates checking her out, asking who she was and then high-fiving me for finding her before anyone else had a chance. I’d thought it might embarrass her, but she’d just laughed and kissed me. As if showing the whole world I was hers. And she was mine.
Mine.
The word echoed through my subconscious a lot lately. I was crazy about this girl but hadn’t had the nerve to tell her how I felt. I sensed she was being cautious too and I wasn’t sure how to change any of it. We were dancing around huge issues and they would be coming to a head in about eight weeks. I had to get through the championships first, though, and needed to make sure my head was in the game since I was meeting up with the Sidewinders this coming weekend. I wanted to make sure I was prepared both professionally and emotionally for the type of conversation I hoped to have with them.
I was leaning toward staying in college for my senior year, but I didn’t know if I could afford it. Without Paxton, I couldn’t stay in the apartment, and though I had the option of living with Ellie, I couldn’t sleep in that twin size bed with her much longer. It had been fun and exciting at first because we were always all over each other, but now that we’d settled into a form of domestic bliss, I needed to stretch out and rest. We’d spent a few nights at my place this past week because I needed the room, but I didn’t think she could afford to pay half the rent and utilities. Especially when she had a free room in the dorms. She’d suggested me becoming an R.A. in a different dorm, which would get me a free room, but that meant we couldn’t sleep together very often.
I had to go to a team meeting tonight to talk about strategy and watch some video as a way of preparing for the championships. It was nice to hang out with the guys outside
of practice and I realized I hadn’t done much of anything with my friends since meeting Ellie. In a way, I’d started pulling away from the guys on the team, and part of me wondered if it was because I was ready to leave school.
Guilt ate at me every time I thought about not getting my degree, but it was only three classes. I could get them done in two summers if I put my mind to it. But that still left Ellie. I didn’t want to leave her and—
“Are you even paying attention?” Tate nudged me, a playful look on his face.
“I’m paying attention,” I muttered, shifting my gaze to the screen at the front of the room. Coach Keller was going on and on about a mistake one of the rookies had made, trying to pound it into our heads that those types of mistakes would cost us the championship.
I zoned out again because I knew all that. I wasn’t a rookie. I was ready for the pros, and more and more, it was beginning to feel like college was holding me back. Which brought me right back to feeling guilty.
I absently took a bite of the pizza that had been provided, glancing over at Paxton. He looked bored too and we exchanged a knowing look. We’d had a heart-to-heart the other night and he knew I was struggling. His advice had been to wait until I met the guys from the Sidewinders and had a chance to pick their brains. He was right, but I was impatient and it was messing with my focus.
PAXTON: Breathe. Focus. You’re about to jump out of your skin. One day at a time.
His text made me smile. That was one of the best things about having a twin—he read my body language like a book.
PATRICK: I can’t get out of my own head today.
PAXTON: We have the games tomorrow and Saturday, and then you’ll go to Montreal on Sunday. Until then, there’s nothing you can do, so stressing about it is a waste of time.
I hated when he was right so I sent him back an emoji of someone flipping a bird and grinned as he bit back a laugh when he saw it.